I am back. The date went well except we really didn’t hit it off. He was soooooooooooo boring and all he wanted to do was talk about Freud or Brad Pitt. After our coffee, we went to a used bookstore down the street and I searched for a copy of Witness and he looked for the new U2 CD. I wanted to tell him the likelihood of him finding the new U2 album in a used bookstore was nil, but I held my tongue. We both left empty-handed. In silence, or maybe he was talking and I wasn’t listening, we walked to our cars. We shook hands and said in unison, “Nice meeting you!” and off we drove in separate directions.

Last night Mom, Lisa, and I went to Big Lots. It was like a discount Target! Lisa bought tons of stuff. I was able to keep myself under control.

This morning I awoke at 7:00. My plan was to finish those darn performance reviews. Instead, I showered, dressed, ate breakfast and queued the Monkees: Missing Links albums on Napster. There is still some time to get 1 or 2 done before my 10:00 date! He’s a psychoanalyst and we are meeting at Starbucks for coffee. He is, of course, an eHarmony match. One of the shorter ones, in fact. I’m wearing my new, funky H&M shirt I bought for 5.50 and a pair of dungarees. I hope I am not too dressed down. His vocation worries me. What kind of a person is a psychoanalyst? Who would want to subject themselves to such crap? I can’t imagine it. It’s like doctors. There is no way in the world I would ever want to be a doctor. Touching people’s rashes, extracting blood and performing stool samples? It makes me ill just thinking of it.

On my flight back from Chicago, I sat in an aisle seat in the emergency row. A woman had beat me to the window seat. As usual I closed my eyes and leaned back, listening to my little RCA Lyra packed with Elvis, Tom Jones, and Dusty Springfield tunes. Some turbulence roused me and I looked out the window and noticed the woman was no longer in her seat! “Where did she go?” I didn’t feel her scoot past me, I would definitely have noticed that! I leaned back again but instead of getting lost in the music I tried to stay alert so I would notice a woman passing over me. Five minutes went by and I opened my eyes to check on my seat neighbor AND THERE SHE SAT READING A BOOK!?! Crazy.

I got in at 7:00. Immediately I ordered dinner: side salad and a side of sweet potato fries. I ate and watched TV. Eventually I turned on my laptop. I have to redo some of my performance reviews that I submitted the other day AND I DON’T WANT TO DO THEM! When will this ever end? Probably in time for mid-year assessments.

This morning the hotel bed was so comfortable. I could hardly drag myself to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

I’ve been listening to Cat Stevens, John Prine, and John Denver this evening. It has me thinking of a time when I was younger and Erin and I would go to John and Peter’s Open Mike Nite in New Hope. How many 3rd rate singer songwriters did I hear? Too many. I remember sitting there in the smokey bar listening to yet another skinny guy in ripped up jeans, ski cap and acoustic guitar whine on and on and on. At the time I used to wonder what I was doing there. No one ever hit on me. Erin commanded all the attention. The music sucked yet every Thursday we were sitting at a table, drinking a Yuengling Black and Tan. Looking back 5 years later, laying in a hotel room bed, listening to music on my laptop, I wish I was back there.

I had a Cobb Salad for dinner. What self-restraint I possess! I really wanted to order chili and sweet poatao fries!

Yeah– I am enjoying Napster. I loaded it on my work computer and I am laying here in bed listening to John Prine.

I got a match on eHarmony today in which the fellow, in his profile, is not standing on a mountain, skydiving, petting a wild animal, or playing some rugged sport. Nope. He is standing there, shirtless, flexing his muscles! I renewed my subscription for another month. Not because of Mr. Shirtless but because I am intent upon meeting and dating men. Is it a bad sign when the other day I actually uttered the words, “There are quite a few men in my pipeline.” PIPELINE!?! Next thing I’ll be assigning “Sales Stages” to them and graphically depicting it in a Sales Funnel.

I ate wings, chili and cake. After I loaded the dishes into the dishwasher, I ran back to the Donna villa to pack. Four days in Chicago. I’ll get there after midnight Eastern time. There is an early morning meeting tomorrow. Yep, more process re-engineering! FUN!

I really am enjoying Napster. It’s almost like I am at the helm of my own radio station and all it plays are the songs of David Cassidy, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Yma Sumac, and the Monkees! Now all I need is to get Creative’s Zen Micro Mp3 Player.

Okay, must continue to get ready. Soon my bags will be packed and I’ll be ready to go…

Lisa and I are about to take off to pick up our cousin Lanke. We are going to my parents’ house for a Super Bowl feast. My father made his famous chili and he bought 100 chicken wings. I will have a distended belly on the airplane to Chicago tonight! I don’t plan to watch the game but instead return to the Donna villa and pack for tonight’s trek.

Go PHILLIES! errr, FLYERS! errr, EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!

Napster doesn’t have the “Pop à Paris” Series or the “1000 Nadelstiche” Series of German Remakes of American Hits in Germany BUT they do have the Ultra Lounge series! I have it streaming right now and I am loving every second.

This morning Lisa and I went to Petco to see if the local shelter had any little dogs for adoption. They didn’t have any dogs this week but they did have a bunch of cats. There were two cats I wasthisclose to bringing home. They were both senior cats whose long-time owners brought them in because a family member developed an “allergy.” The two cats were sitting in their cages with a rather stunned expression on their little faces. Lisa pulled me away.
“Donna, come! You can’t adopt two cats!”
“But Lisa, these are old cats! They are used to living in a house and sitting on a chair and napping– how could their owners just kick them out!”
“DONNA! NOW!”
“I must take them!”
“If you come with me, I will take you to the Indian Restaurant for their Lunch Buffet”
“Will you get me a Mango Lassi?”
“Yes.”
“Ok”

I signed up for Napster’s free 14-day trial. I downloaded a ton of Elvis and Monkees songs. Many of the artists I am interested in weren’t listed.

Johnny Hallyday, Michel Polnareff, France Gall, Serge Gainsbourg, Brigitte Bardot, Marie Laforêt, Nino Ferrer, Ronnie Bird, Claude François, Eddy Mitchell, Smokie, Max Raabe, Henry Valentino, Vera Lynn, Suzie Quatro, Boyce & Hart, etc…

I am not sure if I will actually subscribe to this service once my trial is over but so far I like it. I don’t like that I can’t burn these tunes and once I stop subscribing I can’t listen to any of them again. But at least I am getting a chance to listen to songs I normally wouldn’t be able to because I am a cheapskate.*

Last night Lisa, Audra, and I met in King of Prussia at the Cheesecake Factory. We had drinks, appetizers, and cheesecake! We are getting old. At 10:30 we practically slumped in our chairs we were so tired.

*Spinster by Joan Jett!

Lisa is the greatest sister in the entire world. What did she do that was so awesome? When I walked into the Donna villa last night, it was absolutely SPOTLESS. She cleaned up. The house sparkled. There have been times when I get back from a hard week in Chicago and the house is a filthy mess and it just weighs me down even more. I know that in addition to my other tasks, I am going to have to clean the house. NOT LAST NIGHT! Although I didn’t show it, I was actually buoyed by how wonderful it looked. THANK YOU!

This morning, instead of making coffee using my “sensual” Braun Coffeemaker, I brewed Masala Chai. We don’t keep milk in the house because humans are the only animal that continue to drink milk into adulthood and Lisa and I like to stand apart, so I used Coffeemate instead. It tasted lovely, just like the Chai I get at the Indian Restaurant.

Am I feeling better? I am home and that is hopeful. Otherwise, work is slowly sucking the life out of me. What I need to do is exercise and breath fresh air and eat healthy food and I am sure I will start feeling better. You guys are right about that. I also need to start clearing my mind so work is not all I think about. Pushing myself away from the computer every now and then might also help. Some of what I am feeling could be Seasonal Affective Disorder. It seems every year around this time I start to sink into a funk. Maybe all I really need is a nice dose of Vitamin D. We shall see.